He Walked Into a Bar on Camera. No Camera Saw Him Leave

At 1:55 a.m. on April 1, 2006, a security camera in Columbus, Ohio, recorded 27-year-old medical student Brian Shaffer outside the door of the Ugly Tuna Saloona. Then he walked out of the frame. No camera ever recorded him leaving, and he has never been found. The disappearance of Brian Randall Shaffer, a second-year Ohio State University College of Medicine student, from the Ugly Tuna Saloona in the South Campus Gateway on North High Street, Columbus, Ohio, early on April 1, 2006, told from the FBI ViCAP alert, NamUs case MP1709, Columbus police statements from 2006 to 2026, and reporting by Dateline NBC, NBC4, ABC6 and MEL Magazine. We cover his last night, the 1:15 and 1:55 camera frames, the search, the camera geometry and the service exit, the September 2006 phone call, and the main theories. SOURCES • NamUs Missing Person case MP1709, Brian Randall Shaffer — https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#... • Dateline NBC, "Into thin air," May 8, 2006 — https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12689476 • People, "Brian Shaffer Walked Into a Bar 19 Years Ago and Was Never Seen Again," April 1, 2025 — https://www.aol.com/brian-shaffer-walked-b... • 614NOW, Brian Shaffer coverage, 2024 and 2026 — https://614now.com/2024/hot-topics/at-18-y... • Wikipedia, "Disappearance of Brian Shaffer" (for its summary of Columbus Monthly, April 2009 and September 2014) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearanc... • The Lantern, Ohio State student newspaper, 2006–2009 coverage — https://www.thelantern.com/ • NBC4 WCMH, Brian Shaffer 20th anniversary coverage, 2026 — https://www.nbc4i.com/ • Full source list in the pinned comment. IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION Brian Shaffer has never been found. Anyone with information can call the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-4545, or leave an anonymous tip with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477 (614-461-TIPS). ARCHIVAL MATERIAL • North side of Columbus, Ohio, looking across 3rd Street toward One Nationwide Plaza — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Co... • Columbus, Ohio skyline panorama — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Co... • Meiling Hall, the building that houses Ohio State University's College of Medicine administration — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Me... • Cable-stayed bridge over the Olentangy River at Lane Avenue, adjacent to the Ohio State University campus — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Co... • Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oh... • South Campus Gateway at The Ohio State University (self-made photo) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SC... • South Campus Gateway, Columbus, Ohio — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ca... • The South Campus Gateway — Carvalho.26 (2015-12-05) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Carvalho.26, Wikimedia Commons) · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th... • FBI ViCAP Alert: Missing Person - Brian Randall Shaffer (Alert 2006-06-01, revised 09/07/2018) — https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/missing-p... • Ohio BCI Criminal Intelligence Unit Public Bulletin, 'Missing Person - Age Progression', Brian Shaffer, Mar… — https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Media/... • USGS 1:24,000 topographic map, Northwest Columbus, Ohio, 1995 — U.S. Geological Survey (1995) · PD-US-gov · https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5... VISUAL CREDITS • Fair use (published photo, documentary commentary): Image: WSYX ABC6, 2006; Shaffer family • Missing-person flyer released for circulation: Flyer: Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, via WSYX ABC6 • Stock footage: Pixabay contributors (Pixabay Content License) • Police-released image: Surveillance image: Columbus Division of Police, via WSYX ABC6 • Released for public circulation (NamUs MP1709): Image: NamUs; NamUs (2004 Ohio BMV image); NamUs / Columbus Division of Police • provided: Arena District, May 2006 • Document and headline graphics are reconstructions for illustration. ABOUT THIS VIDEO Last Known Hours is an original documentary series. Every line of narration is written from the public record and checked against the sources listed here before publication. Published photos are used for commentary and news reporting with credit. Allegations are attributed; anyone not convicted of a crime is presumed innocent. Theories are labeled as theories. Corrections are pinned in the comments. MORE CASES ▶ Last Seen: disappearances:    • Last Seen: Disappearances   ▶ Solved decades later:    • Solved: Cold Cases Cracked Decades Later   #unsolved #missing #truecrime